5 Tips for Starting an Indoor Garden

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When skimming any interior design magazine or blog post, you’re bound to run into a bunch of houseplants used as decor. Indoor gardens seem to be all the rage. They’re great for your health, the environment, and they’re nice to look at!

You may not have a green thumb, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a wonderful indoor garden to help spruce up your interior space. With proper planning and a little creativity, you’ll be growing some beautiful new plants in no time.

Here are five tips to get you started on your indoor garden.

1. Find your light

Houseplants are a perfect way to exercise your responsibility muscles in the easiest way. Plants only require two things to grow: sunlight and water. Some plants barely even require that! When looking to start your indoor garden, you’ll want to look for areas (probably near windows) that have the most amount of sunlight throughout the day. These are the spots and rooms that will probably be the future home of most of your plants since most plants do require some form of sunlight.

When preparing your indoor garden, keep lighting in mind because it may mean re-arranging already existing furniture or decorations to accommodate new plants. If you don’t have much sunlight in your apartment or home, look for types of plants that require less sunlight and less care. Some options may be bamboo or easy succulent plants.

2. Think vertically

Some people may not think they have the space for an indoor garden because all their surfaces already seem to be filled. A great way to fit more plants into a smaller space is to think vertically! With just a quick search on Google or Pinterest, you’ll see loads of design ideas on how to maximize space with plants.

You can find vertical mounting walls, shelves, or even hang plants from the ceiling to fit more into a smaller space. Plus, draping plants look even better when they have room to grow downward!

3. Find quirky containers

You may dread starting a garden because it means going out and buying loads of new pots and planters. This doesn’t have to be the case. One decorating trend is to plant easy-going plants (like succulents and cacti) in cute containers that you probably already have. Some of these may be things like jars, glass bottles, cans, dishes, mugs, ceramics of any type, and so many more.

Really, the possibilities are endless and it won’t require you to purchase ugly and generic looking planters. When doing this, just be sure that you’re choosing the right plant for your container. Some plants require irrigation draining and some will need room to grow. Try and find the perfect fit!

4. Make it useful

Sometimes it’s hard to see the appeal in all the work it takes to buy, plant, and grow an indoor garden. One way to counter this is by growing plants that will be useful to you later on. There are plenty of herbs and spices that can easily be grown indoors.

You’d also be surprised about the different uses for plants you may have just bought for aesthetic purposes. Aloe vera is a popular houseplant, but did you know that you can use the goo inside the leaves to immediately heal burns? No need to buy from the supermarket anymore! For many, plants are good enough because they produce cleaner air and are pleasant to look at. These are also great reasons to start an indoor garden.

5. Careful when wet

Don’t forget that plants can be messy too! Depending on which plants you’ve chosen for your indoor garden, they may need watering quite frequently and also may need to be drained. Be sure that the plants that might leak have dishes or water catchers underneath so that they don’t drip all over the place.

You may need to test some of your containers beforehand to find out whether or not they’re going to leak when you water your plants in the future. This may take some strategic planning on your part when starting your indoor garden. Just remember that a little forethought is better than a moldy carpet!

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Starting an indoor garden doesn’t have to be a huge hassle, nor do you have to work extra hard to reap huge benefits. With plants, you usually barely have to do anything at all before you have a blooming garden on your hands.

Just think about all the wonderful things an indoor garden holds: fresher scents, beautiful blooms, and maybe even an herb or two. People are often surprised about how cheap having a nice indoor garden can actually be. Just a few plants placed here and there can have a huge affect on the feel of your home. Be ready for a livelier space!

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